How to read an INCI list, what the PAO symbol means, and what terms like non-comedogenic and hypoallergenic actually guarantee.
'Cruelty-free means nothing legally' is a US fact that gets reported as a global one. In the EU the claim is legally conditioned — and the four words split into two pairs on an axis nobody expects.
July 28, 2026
Ingredient lists are ordered by weight — until they aren't. The 1% rule is the single most useful thing to understand, and it's the thing most often explained wrongly.
July 28, 2026
The word to look for is 'Parfum' in the EU and 'Fragrance' in the US — and the chemical names sitting after it are not a separate ingredient list. Also: the '26 EU allergens' figure everyone quotes has been wrong since 2022.
July 28, 2026
It is a claim about process, not result — and a European court ruled on exactly this phrase in 2002. What it obliges a brand to hold differs completely between the EU and the US.
July 28, 2026
The word does not appear anywhere in US federal regulation, or in EU law. No test is required and there is no pass mark. Here is what the label is really telling you — and why dermatologists still say to look for it.
July 28, 2026
The little jar with '12M' on it tells you more than you think — and its absence tells you something too. What the law actually requires, in the EU and the US.
July 28, 2026